Close
Boeing Images
Cart (0)
Login / Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
Go to Login page
Hide details
Conceptually similar
Space Shuttle Enterprise atop 747
Space Shuttle Enterprise Takeoff
Space Shuttle Enterprise Takeoff
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Enterprise Head-on
747 Transporting Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia Mounted on Shuttle Carrier
Shuttle and 747 in Flight Overhead
Modified Boeing 747 with NASA Space Shuttle
Phantom Ray Atop 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Takeoff with Space Shuttle
Modified 747 Space Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Columbia
Modified 747 Space Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Cutaway
Space Shuttle Columbia Landing
Similar tones
View images with similar tones
Space Shuttle Enterprise atop 747
NASA's Space Shuttle is an operational, reusable and human-rated spacecraft. Designed to take off like a rocket and maneuver in space like a spaceship, it can return to Earth and land on a runway like an airplane. The idea of a winged spacecraft that could make airplane-like landings goes back to the early 1960s. The North American X-15 program, the McDonnell ASSET re-entry vehicle and the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar project, explored the concept of a reusable spacecraft. But, it wasn't until after Project Apollo ended that NASA began development of a spacecraft that would serve as an Earth-to-orbit space truck. This program evolved into the Space Transportation System, or STS, known today as the Space Shuttle. In 1972, NASA selected North American Rockwell as the prime contractor to build the shuttle. North American not only had experience in building Apollo spacecraft, but it also built the X-15 rocket plane, the first winged aircraft to fly to space and land on a runway. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas were key program partners. The STS consists of a delta-winged orbiter, a huge detachable fuel tank and two detachable solid rocket boosters. The shuttle orbiter and the solid rocket boosters are reusable. The external fuel tank is expended during each launch. The shuttle orbiter is the only part that actually goes into space. The first orbiter, the Enterprise, was used for flight tests in the atmosphere. It was followed by Columbia, which made the first space flight in April 1981. The orbiters Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis followed. A fifth operational shuttle, Endeavor, was added in 1991. Once in orbit, the shuttle travels at 17,500 miles per hour, and can reach altitudes up to 600 miles above the Earth.
Add to lightbox
Add to cart
Unique identifier
BI22050
Boeing ID
583-428
Type
Image
Size
6000px × 5971px 102MB
License type
RM
Keywords
1980s
747-100
cargo handling
clouds
commercial
copy space
day
exteriors
full body views
gray
gray skies
green
ground shots
high-tech / advanced
left front views
left side views
North American Rockwell
other livery
passenger helicopters
payload systems
photos
power
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA)
Space Shuttle orbiters
Space Transportation System (STS)
spacecraft
tarmac
taxiing
text
white
Restrictions